Did you just mention GRINDING EVIL?
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āWhen Iām done, Iāll watch the sun set on a virgin universe.ā
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Hm, I went with Maybe. My MC is certainly not very social, but would probably want some lazy days.
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āNot an alchemist, but Iām on that grind.ā
Romantic entanglements are to be used for my own benefit, to further my own goals - Iād like Deionarra more than Iād like Catwoman or someone.
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Very interesting concept! Cant wait for the next update, I like how everything is technically told in past tense
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been greatly enjoying this and wish i had more detailed feedback to offer right now, but i just wanted to report that even after upgrading the orangutan, the stats screen still listed her as a basic orangutan.
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Well, we canāt have that, can we? 
Iāll check out that bug.
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Okay, Iām getting a (very rare!) weekday writing sesh and Iām trying to make the most of it. Working entirely on the demon mission for the next 3 hours. Here goes!
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This will be the first Friday I wonāt have an update. Itās been a tough week to write violent content, Iāll just leave it at that.
But Iāll post the update (that will include the complete demon scene) sometime over the coming weekend, and that will pretty much complete Module 1.
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One thing that made me raise an eyebrow in terms of stat spread is that the enhanced origin doesnāt come with Genius boost. Itād be perfectly understandable if someone else enhanced you, but as the text puts it, you essentially turned yourself into a supersoldier. It seems like someone would have to be pretty damn smart to be able to do that in the first place.
Nonetheless, this demo is ridiculously fun, and Iām eager to see more. Thanks for the treat!
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Surprising absolutely no one, I went bring on the socialization and romance. Hedonistic for the win. 
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Azazel/Azalea/Azaleas, Gorton, Armagh, Aphuch/Ahpuch, Aanuch, Karāklan/Karākla/Karāklae, Tchort, Almanarhgh, Bifron/Bifrons, Bibqae, Bieur/Buer, Gaapae, Ipo/Ipos/Ipoae, Mastema, Orobos, Asbāel, Perkele, Vanth, Yannick, Yannargh, Zargha
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adding to this list from pathfinder ttrpg: Abraxsus, Baphomet, Deskari, Dagon, Lamashtu, Nocticula, Pazuzu, Orcus, Socothbenoth, Zura, Angazhan, Shax, Cyth-Vāsug, Kostchtchie, Aldinach, Areshkagal, Flauros, Gogunta, Jezelda, Hagenti, Jubilex, Kabiri, Mestama, Sifkesh, Xuveron, Urxehl
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Well, I guess I lied. I cranked out some content tonight, much more than I anticipated.
The demon side mission is LIVE. As always, the link is on Post #1. Iām going with the demon name āShadeā right now. Weāll see if it sticks. Trigger warning: Itās a more intense/violent scene as compared to the Putty and Fox side missions.
So whew! This sticks a fork in Module 1 at almost 60k words!
Iām jumping right into Module 2, with more social interaction choices (if your MC sacrfices some main arc missions) and (I think!) the introduction of Origin arcs. I have a ridiculous number of vignette ideas, itās going to be really fun writing this Module!
I have a family trip scheduled in 5 weeks, so between now and then, my writing goal is to crank out as much of Module 2 as is possible.
If anyone finds bugs, Iād SUPER appreciate you reporting them so I can have this Module as clean as possible. You can even report things like spacing errors and stuff like that; I want it polished.
Edited to Add: I am also editing the Putty mission to put it more in line with the others; meaning I will do away with the ābring orangutanā choice since there is no downside whatsoever to bringing her along, and Iāll add a ācheck out that Putty assā choice. Iāll also add loner/cooperative choices to Shade and Putty too.
Thanks! Have a great night.
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I got up early to work on this before real work started. I hadnāt yet created a google sheet for the game; now that task is done. Everything is laid out in colorful glory. This sort of āGame Bibleā is something I create for every game I write, and it will make creating a Game Guide down the line much easier. It also helps me keep everything balanced.
Anyways, rereading the whole game this morning left me with a couple of questions in my mind, mostly about how much more to specify versus how much to leave open to player imagination.
Please share your thoughts if you have any.
1. Setting. Should I give the city a set name? Let the player pick the city name? Or leave it vague, as it stands now? Your adventures will certainly spread out to other locales as you grow and learn, but at least for Part 1, I anticipate much of what happens will happen in the city.
2. Does the MC āreadā like a man? If so, can I make any tweaks to help mitigate this? I would be most interested, obviously, in the opinions of anyone who doesnāt identify as male. If you donāt identity as male, can you still visualize yourself as the MC? This is something Iād like to feel better about before plowing ahead.
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For 1), I feel like leaving things vague might work best. So far, thereās a āgeneric cityā feel to the setting, which admittedly works rather well given the genre.
About 2), as someone who will play with a female MC 90% of the times Iām given the option, I donāt think Iāve been bothered by the way she is written here. As far as I can tell, she reads like a supervillain, which is admittedly the goal. Maaaybe an āIntimateā MC feels more reserved than your usual flirty villainess archetype (I guess mostly because overly flirting male villains arenāt as common and tend to be viewed more critically).
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Hm, well, I would say my MC does read like a man, but he is. So that may be influencing the perception.
Also, I think this is a bug ā when choosing to upgrade a skill, Law doesnāt have a confirmation, just a return to list.
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Hm, yes. This story is good. I will watch, for I need more āyou play as the antagonist/villainā stories.
Only flaw I see is for writing on Shade. For me, Shade is a female, but her bodies I made her possess are all men. Yet the game still refers as āherā. I get it for referring to the demon possessing them, but it can make things confusing sometimes. Havenāt really tried the other allies yet so might edit as I find more things.
Not sure if picking up the orangutan would locks us off of future sidekicks. I read the warning as āif you pick this, you canāt drop yours when you meet another sidekick!ā. So I didnāt accept, thinking there was another one, only to reach the demo without meeting another. lol
- Like Talyrion said, āvague/genericā works for now. Maybe weāll grow along with the city or something. But other than that, Iām not good with city names.
- I had no problem with it despite playing as a woman, since the MC is a villain.
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The more I think about it, the more I think the city needs a name. I mean, your MC will (eventually) travel to other cities, countries, maybe other planets? (not sure about that last one). Those destinations will have names, so it follows that the main setting will need a name. It would be pretty confusing otherwise. But I still need to decide whether to just name it something or let the player name the city. Iāll give it some more thought as I work on Module 2. I can sprinkle in the city name a couple of times in Module 1 and it will read as if itās always been there.
Iām happy to hear that no one, at least thus far, views the MC as being too coded male. I really just want the MC to come off as a psychopathic eventual badass. My hope was that by including a wide range of attributes, powers and skills, that you could play your MC as being more violent/aggressive or more manipulative/creative or any combination of those traits without them being gendered.
@Earl_Le_Vert yes I struggled a bit with writing the whole āfemale demon in the body of a host whose gender is not female.ā I thought it made sense to refer to Shade with her ātrueā pronoun, as her hosts are basically just temporary vessels and donāt affect her actual gender, but yeah itās tough to convey. I might give it some thought and maybe give that scene another āonce overā down the line.
Iāve already written about 1500 words of Module 2 I think itās going to be fun.
Now the big decision looming ahead pertains to your MCās arch enemy. And that question will need a poll.
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This is a big decision here. How do I write the MCās arch enemy? This relationship will be one of the central elements of the entire story. I need to make it satisfying. I see two main options, although I would be open to other ideas.
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I can just write a superhero who is your MCās nemesis. They would have a set name, power set, maybe even personality, but they could be gender-variable. That would make it easier on me for sure, and it might make them a stronger character. BUT thereās no way I could write a character that every player feels that their MC would legit be obsessed with. Itās just not possible.
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Or I create just a very basic skeleton of an arch enemy and give the player choices to build out the details. This will require more work on my part, but Iām definitely willing to do this if players feel it would deliver a more satisfying experience. You could basically create your own arch nemesis, making them possess qualities that your MC would find obsession-worthy. My own concern isā¦do players WANT to do this? Youāre already building your own MC. Do you want to build your MCās main foe too? Does it feel weird?
Which would be the more satisfying option?
- I would prefer to ābuildā my own arch enemy! Iād like to pick their name, their personality, their uniform, etc. Only I can create a character that my MC would obsess over.
- I would prefer Eric to just write a set arch enemy as best he can, and my MC will find a reason to obsess about them. As long as they are gender-variable, itās all good.
0 voters
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